Locally based GSBS Architects, designing the new Utah state prison in Salt Lake City, presented design ideas to the state legislature’s prison development commission in late September. As the architecture firm continues to gather ideas from hundreds of modern correctional facilities across the country, its main goal is to create a campus that focuses on rehabilitation, normalizing day-to-day life for inmates, according to the Associated Press.

Construction on the State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Skippack Township continues and will now open more than a year behind schedule.
The 1.06 million-square-foot facility will replace the 1920s Graterford complex nearby and serve as the main detention center for Philadelphia-area inmates. The project goal is to get the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) into a modern, multi-use correctional facility that will allow the department to continue to carry out its mission and provide a safe and secure facility for the staff and inmates.

Voters across the United States took to their polling places Nov. 8 to determine the outcome of races, initiatives and amendments large and small; a number of which focused on funding correctional and justice construction projects. Correctional News has compiled a brief round up of successful local-level efforts across the nation to fund both new projects and improvements to correctional and justice facilities.

Crawford County, Ark., corrections officials cut the ribbon on the new Crawford County Detention Center in Van Buren on Nov. 4. The 300-bed facility was initially budgeted at more than $20.5 million, but was completed under budget for approximately $17.4 million, saving the county more than $3.1 million despite the addition of an impound yard and radio tower not originally built into the plans. All savings will likely be paid back to the project’s bonding company, allowing the county to pay off the facility’s debt more quickly.

Construction on the new Pierce County Jail & Sheriff’s Department in Ellsworth is well underway after a groundbreaking ceremony took place in March. Scheduled for an opening next summer, the project is currently within budget and has yet to face any weather or other unnecessary delays, reported River Falls Journal.